Epidemiology of special incidents: Results from national mortality and morbidity registry and the associated factors in Iran in 2014

BACKGROUND: Special incidents are harmful events that can result in people’s death or injury. Despite registering special incidents’ data in Iran, no study has yet been conducted to identify the types, rates, mortality and morbidity of such incidents and their associated factors. The present study was conducted to assess the epidemiology of incidents and their associated factors during 2014 in Iran. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, all special incidents of 2014 were examined. Data were initially collected by universities of medical sciences nationwide and then sent to the Disaster and Emergency Management Center in the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. The collected data were analyzed in this study using statistical tests of Chi-square and Pearson’s correlation coefficient using SPSS ver. 14.5. RESULTS: Out of 6,892 special incidents that occurred during 2014 in Iran, 6,781 cases were included, of which, the most prevalent were traffic crashes (71%), carbon monoxide poisoning (14%), drowning (3.5%), and other cases (11.5%) (which included suspicious deaths, explosions, group poisoning, quarrels, fires, falls from height, and building collapses). The incidents led to 37,313 injuries and 3,259 deaths, of which 78% of injuries and 75% of deaths were due to road traffic incidents. CONCLUSION: Given to relationship between occurrence of the incidents and special holidays; such incidents can be reduced through preventive planning and education. We recommend annual monitoring of special incidents and further studies on the associated factors.